Women heart failure cases are not spotted

WOMEN with heart failure are waiting almost six times longer than men to be diagnosed, a damning report revealed yesterday.

They are also 96 per cent more likely to receive an incorrect diagnosis, it was said.

The study revealed that 44.5 per cent of women surveyed were incorrectly diagnosed with another condition before receiving their heart failure diagnosis, compared to just 22.7 per cent of men.

While men said they waited on average 3.6 weeks for their diagnosis from their initial GP visit, women waited on average just over 20 weeks.

An early and accurate diagnosis of heart failure is critical to ensuring rapid access to treatment, reducing the risk of long-term complications and preventing early deaths.

Medical experts warned that the stark inequalities

HANNAH was diagnosed with a heart condition at 39, after originally being given antibiotics for a chest infection.

She said despite “horrific” symptoms of being breathless and unable to walk up the street or get up the stairs “they basically said it was acid reflux”.

Hannah, of Leeds, added: “When I got more and more unwell they didn’t allude to any kind of heart failure.”

About nine months after first seeing a GP, Hannah, was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy.

She said being in hospital and unable to look after her children, who have special needs, for 11 days because of the late diagnosis was “incredibly difficult”.

Hannah said: “Had they diagnosed me sooner I wouldn’t have been in hospital and I wouldn’t have been taken away from them in that time.”

MY 9-MONTH AGONY DOCTOR SAID WAS ACID REFLUX

highlighted in the report could simply be down to GPs and hospital doctors too often seeing heart problems as “a man’s disease”.

The report, by heart charity Pumping Marvellous and healthcare firm Roche ‘Horrific’ symptoms...mum Hannah, 39

Diagnostics, said patients with a late diagnosis suffer poor mental health, financial losses, stalled careers and a poorer quality of life.

Martin Cowie, professor of cardiology at Imperial College London, said:

“There is a striking gender gap in the speed and accuracy of the diagnosis.

“Too often heart problems are seen as a man’s disease and are not even considered in a woman. This needs to change.”